The historical specificity and contemporary relevance of the concept of race

Résumé du document

According to Rousseau, there are ‘two sorts of inequality': one is ‘natural or physical'; the other is between social groups. In order to understand an historical specificity of the concept of race, we will study how the second type of inequality was reduced to the first. In other words, we are going to see how what were considered social inequalities started to be seen as natural inequalities. The concept of race is very complex. Most of the time, in today's world, it describes populations or groups of people distinguished by different sets of characteristics, and beliefs about common ancestry. These human racial characteristics are most widely based on visible traits like skin color or facial features, and self-identification. Whereas racism was first a belief in the inferiority of the lower orders at home, it became a belief in the inferiority of non-European peoples. We will see how racism evolved progressively, ceasing to be an elite ideology and becoming part of popular culture, establishing itself as a mass ideology and transforming the concept of race into an issue of colour dividing the world. In this paper, in order to explain the historical specificity and contemporary relevance of the concept of race, we will explain the making of a discourse of race from the eighteenth century to the age of democracy, having eventually a look at the contradictions of equality that emerged in modern society.

Extraits

[...] To do so, they wanted to resurrect the historical roots and evolution of different peoples. They argued for the necessity of permanent distinctions in society and for the return of some form of aristocratic elite, which could provide this social cohesion and order that was needed to thwart social change. Doing so, the Romantics reforged the old idea of race. Supporting for political democracy and individual rights, the Victorian age was predominantly liberal and forward-looking. People then trusted the law of progress, a positive spirit was created by industrial progress. [...]

[...] The historical specificity and contemporary relevance of the concept of race According to Rousseau, there are sorts of inequality': one is ‘natural or physical'; the other is between social groups. In order to understand an historical specificity of the concept of race, we will study how the second type of inequality was reduced to the first. In other words, we are going to see how what were considered social inequalities started to be seen as natural inequalities. The concept of race is very complex. [...]

[...] The Allies fought the war in defence of democracy against fascism, racism, and tyranny. The depth of these horrors forced politicians and scientists to react against this use of racial ideology. After the Second World War, discussions of human differences were dominated by the terms of ‘culture' or ‘history' rather than those of ‘race'. But some forms of racism still persist in today's society, confronted to the paradox of equality and the difficulty to combine ethical pluralism with liberal egalitarianism. [...]

[...] Social differences, fixed against this background of progress and regression, were themselves considered natural. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Romantic reaction opposed the Enlightenment discourse, bringing down the egalitarian and universalistic assumptions of the philosophers while celebrating particularistic values. This Romantic reaction is the genesis of the modern discourse of race. Appealed by the social consequences of capitalist society and moved by the misery caused by industrialisation, the Romantics were against the reorganisation of society according to rational principles lauded by the Enlightenment philosophers. [...]

[...] Like Rousseau, Herder believed that the individual could not realise himself in isolation since his values arose from a relationship with society. But, for Herder, there is also an organic relationship between an individual and the culture or people of which he belonged. This vision undermined the idea of human equality and unity because this focus on the specificity of societies or cultures is contrary to universal law. For Herder, difference was inevitable and universality contrary to nature. This particularistic outlook encouraged a racial outlook. These differences between peoples, motivated by particular sentiments, were rapidly seen as racial differences. [...]